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Hi guys,

I just moved to a new place, and unfortunately I have no possibility to rewire the house to my needs, so it looks I need to get a wireless adapter for my desktop. I never had any wifi network adapter, and -hopefully- in 7-8 months or so I'll be able to go wired again, but until then: should I get a PCI/PCIe network card, or are the USB adapters any good? I have a 25/2,5 Mbps net connection and a netgear wgr614 v6 router.
I have absolutely no clue if USB adapters are any reliable. I searched for answers, but I couldn't find any useful answers.

thanks for your help!

I've personally had better luck with USB adapters than PCI or PCIe solutions. Either way, I'd say buy based on the reviews of each product and not just limit yourself by connection type right away.

I don't have any basis for choosing one or the other (ie, I haven't seen a broad comparison of several different models of each type -- client hardware is not something sites like smallnetbuilder.com seem to spend any time reviewing) but my implicit preference is for the PCIe (or PCI) cards that have detachable antennas with standard (BNC) connectors -- this enables you to use cheap coax to position the antennas for best reception without regard to the placement of the computer. Note that MIMO "n" WIFI needs multiple antennas (two or three) at both ends; I'm not sure if the USB adapters offer that, but they at least can be repositioned at the end of the USB cable.

i've got an Airlink101 awll7025(it was far far less $$ than the linksys 5ghz i could've bought, and people say works exactly same performance) it works perfectly swell.
though, something with external antenna(s) just adds more flexibility.
don't think you're really gonna see much performance difference between pci and usb nowadays really.

thanks guys, I really appreciate your advises.
The router isn't too far away from my PC, but a story lower, the reception should be fine. I think I'll stick with the stick, it's easier to handle.
Let's see what do they have at the local store...

I would go with an ethernet to wifi bridge instead of USB or PCI. If I anticipated interference on 2.4 GHz (apartments are a real problem), then I would use 5 GHz even if I had to buy a new wifi router.

A pair of Ubiquiti Nanostation Loco 5Ms would be ideal and cheap.

I've purchased one of these for my parents' network when Newegg had it on sale for half price, but I won't get to set it up for a while.

The router cited only supports b/g. For this reason, the adapter purchase should be based on affordability and aggregate recommendations (to assess quality).

UberGerbil wrote:

(ie, I haven't seen a broad comparison of several different models of each type -- client hardware is not something sites like smallnetbuilder.com seem to spend any time reviewing)

Intel is still the gold standard. I believe that the market is in the early stages of the transition from high-end adapters to bridge-like devices such as this one.

UberGerbil wrote:

detachable antennas with standard (BNC) connectors -- this enables you to use cheap coax to position the antennas for best reception without regard to the placement of the computer

BNC was thinnet; most detachable antennas today use RP-SMA. You may have been referring to RP-TNC, which Linksys favored until 2005 or so. The use of coax pigtails causes attenuation, which may be considerable given the type cable used at that length. If positioning is an issue, you are better off with USB.